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Hey, diddle-dee-dee/It's a pirate's life for me! And you, too, unless you choose to be a British, French or Spanish captain instead of a scurvy sea dog.

Pirates of the Burning Sea isn¡¯t the "WoW killer" some have said it is, but it is by far the most pleasant online distraction from World of Warcraft to come along in a while.

WoW has too much of a head start, what with about 10 million players after more than three years of availability. Would-be usurpers have come and, mostly, gone. But Pirates could hang around for a while.

The sea battles, fought on the gloriously gorgeous waters of a virtual 1720s Caribbean, are going to give the game its longevity. Where WoW has players battling elite monsters for epic weapons and armor (aka "phat loot"), the tasty lure of Pirates lies in the ability to strategically blast other ships from the water ¨C or claim them as your own. Collecting bigger and better ships, that¡¯s what¡¯ll drive you to play more and more Pirates. I could spend hours just sailing the Caribbean crafted by Seattle¡¯s Flying Lab Software, traveling from port to port and engaging enemies at will.

Expanding your influence is the other part of the game, the third-person action/adventure part that looks a lot like WoW. You¡¯ll start the game by creating a character beholden to one of the aforementioned factions. And while there¡¯s plenty to like about pirating, the other factions allow more diversity in terms of subclass. As a British, French or Spanish captain, you can specialize as a freetrader, naval officer or privateer. That last option is basically the same thing as being a pirate backed by a nation and likely will appeal to many players.

Character creation borrows much from City of Heroes. You can adjust nearly every aspect of your "toon," down to the color of his or her earrings and the style of his or her boots, pants, gloves, etc.

Quest-giving characters at the 100 or so ports in the game have that familiar question mark above their heads. But unlike the quest givers in WoW, the ones in Pirates will rarely ask you to kill 10 bears or gather 15 serpent scales. Missions in Pirates are much more closely tied to the overall story, a story that has you building your own port and learning to gather and prepare market-worthy materials such as gunpowder, sugar, timber and rum.

As your character gains higher levels (50 is the current player cap), you¡¯ll be able to spend your collected doubloons on expanding your home base to make it more profitable. Establish yourself with your chosen faction by doing sword fight or sea battle quests.

Sword-fighting is fun but could use some polish. Your character can become proficient at traditional fencing, Florentine swordsmanship or a more piratey form known as Dirty Fighting. Early in my Dirty Fighting training, I learned how to use pistols and how to elbow enemies in the face. Sword fights are simply a matter of clicking icons to initiate specific attacks, although sometimes the game will give you computer controlled allies and allow you to issue commands to them. And, of course, many missions allow you to group with other players.

Ship-to-ship battles, whether against the computer or other players, are intensely strategic affairs and could have been sold as a game of their own. On the open sea, you¡¯ll have to monitor wind speed and direction to help you edge up next to an enemy ship. Then it¡¯s usually wise to use special ammunition to damage/destroy masts and sails and slow down the vessel. Switch to heavy cannonballs if you want to sink the ship. Or use antipersonnel ammo to lower the enemy¡¯s crew numbers, then employ the grapple command to pull the ships together for boarding. If you choose to board, the scene will switch to a frantic (and somewhat scrambled) third-person sword battle. When you and your crew take down the enemy captain, you win and can claim the ship¡¯s booty. Once every two hours, you can claim a ship you¡¯ve overcome.

My biggest gripe about the game is that the swordplay starts off sloppy. It does get better as you learn more skills, but it¡¯s clunky at first, especially when you and your crew swarm an enemy ship. Also, the loading that occurs when you move between indoor and outdoor environments has got to go. And, for a game that relies so heavily on bringing the seas to life, it doesn¡¯t allow your character to swim or splash about or walk the plank much ¨C or at all, as far as I¡¯ve been able to ascertain.

But Pirates of the Burning Sea has so much to offer out on the open water that I¡¯ll forgive its foibles and happily focus on manufacturing rum for my hardworking crew, ship-jacking royal navies and the general yo-ho-hoing that comes with the territory.

Bill Hutchens: 253-597-8460

blogs.thenewstribune.com/gamers

Pirates of the Burning Sea

* * * *

System: PC

Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment

Developer: Flying Lab Software

Web site: www.burningsea.com

Price: $49.95 (and $15/month subscription)

Rating: T (Teen) for blood, violence, mild suggestive themes and use of alcohol and tobacco.

Bill¡¯s Weekend Playlist

1. Pirates of the Burning Sea

PC

2. World of Warcraft

PC (also for Mac)

3. Super Mario Galaxy

Wii

4. Burnout Paradise

PS3 (also for Xbox 360)

5. No More Heroes

Wii

return list: Pirates of the Burning Sea(US)